University of Minnesota Athletics
Big First Inning Ignites Gopher Victory
3/16/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
The Minnesota baseball team (10-3) used a seven-run first inning to help propel it to a 7-2 victory over No. 11 TCU (10-4) at Lupton Stadium on Sunday, Mar. 15 in the second game of the series.
With the win, the Golden Gophers claimed their first series victory over a ranked opponent since it swept a four-game series at the Metrodome against No. 19 Michigan on Apr. 1-3, 2005. The 10-3 mark also matches the Golden Gophers' best 13-game start (they also did so in 1998 and 2007) since 1959.
Minnesota sent 10 batters to the plate as it erupted for seven runs in the top of the first inning. Matt Nohelty (Rothschild, Wis.) led off with a walk, moved to second on errant pickoff and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Kyle Geason (Eden Prairie, Minn.) followed with a walk to make it first and third. Following a Derek McCallum (Shoreview, Minn.) strikeout, Michael Kvasnicka (Lakeville, Minn.) plated Nohelty with an RBI single through the right side to make it 1-0. Eric Decker (Cold Spring, Minn.) followed with an RBI single to bring home Geason to make it 2-0. Kyle Knudson (Maple Grove, Minn.) was hit by a pitch to load the bases, and Nick O'Shea (Blaine, Minn.) plated both Kvasnicka and Decker to give Minnesota a 4-0 lead. AJ Pettersen (Minnetonka, Minn.) delivered a two-out, two-run triple, and Nohelty added an RBI single to give the Golden Gophers at 7-0 lead after the top half of the first inning.
Senior Tom Buske (Apple Valley, Minn.) minimized the damage in the first inning, and pitched 6.1 innings, giving up four hits, one earned run, two walks and a season-high seven strikeouts. Buske's effort moved him to 3-0 on the season. Scott Fern (Eau Claire, Wis.) entered the game in the bottom of the seventh with a runner on second and one out, and shut the door as he pitched 2.2 shutout innings for Minnesota to finish the game. The effort gave the Golden Gophers' bullpen 5.2 scoreless innings for the series.
The Golden Gophers knocked out TCU starter Sean Hoelscher quickly, as he gave up three hits and six runs in one third of an inning to suffer the loss. Taylor Cragin picked up the slack for the Horned Frogs by pitching 7.2 innings, giving up five hits, one run, one walk and four strikeouts.
Pettersen led Minnesota's offense, as he went 2-for-4 with two RBI, a run and a triple. Decker was also 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI. O'Shea was also 1-for-4 with a run and two RBI, while Nohelty reached base twice and was 1-for-3 with a run and an RBI. Kvasnicka also went 1-for-4 with a run, an RBI and two stellar defensive plays in right field.
TCU looked as if it was going to answer with a big inning of its own when Ben Carruthers doubled and moved to third on a single by Matt Carpenter to lead off the bottom of the first. Jason Coats lined a shot to right field, but Kvasnicka made a beautiful diving catch and almost doubled off Carpenter at first base. Carruthers came home to score on the sacrifice fly by Coats to make it 7-1. Carpenter moved up to second on a walk, and Matt Curry followed with a walk to make it first and second. Both runners moved up on a balk, but Buske struck out the final two batters to keep the Golden Gophers ahead by six runs.
The Horned Frogs added a single run in the bottom of the seventh to cut the Golden Gopher lead to 7-2. Hunt Woodruff got things started when he reached second on an error by the shortstop. Woodruff moved to third on a single by Bryan Holaday with no outs. Corey Steglich plated Woodruff with an RBI ground out to cut the lead to 7-2. Fern came in the game in relief and got a pair of fly outs to center field to get out of the inning.
TCU was led by Woodruff and Carruthers who each went 1-for-4 with a run, while Carpenter was 2-for-4. Steglich and Coats each had RBI for the Horned Frogs.
Minnesota will finish the series against TCU on Monday, Mar. 16 at 6:30 p.m. That game can be heard on gophersports.com.
With the win, the Golden Gophers claimed their first series victory over a ranked opponent since it swept a four-game series at the Metrodome against No. 19 Michigan on Apr. 1-3, 2005. The 10-3 mark also matches the Golden Gophers' best 13-game start (they also did so in 1998 and 2007) since 1959.
Minnesota sent 10 batters to the plate as it erupted for seven runs in the top of the first inning. Matt Nohelty (Rothschild, Wis.) led off with a walk, moved to second on errant pickoff and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Kyle Geason (Eden Prairie, Minn.) followed with a walk to make it first and third. Following a Derek McCallum (Shoreview, Minn.) strikeout, Michael Kvasnicka (Lakeville, Minn.) plated Nohelty with an RBI single through the right side to make it 1-0. Eric Decker (Cold Spring, Minn.) followed with an RBI single to bring home Geason to make it 2-0. Kyle Knudson (Maple Grove, Minn.) was hit by a pitch to load the bases, and Nick O'Shea (Blaine, Minn.) plated both Kvasnicka and Decker to give Minnesota a 4-0 lead. AJ Pettersen (Minnetonka, Minn.) delivered a two-out, two-run triple, and Nohelty added an RBI single to give the Golden Gophers at 7-0 lead after the top half of the first inning.
Senior Tom Buske (Apple Valley, Minn.) minimized the damage in the first inning, and pitched 6.1 innings, giving up four hits, one earned run, two walks and a season-high seven strikeouts. Buske's effort moved him to 3-0 on the season. Scott Fern (Eau Claire, Wis.) entered the game in the bottom of the seventh with a runner on second and one out, and shut the door as he pitched 2.2 shutout innings for Minnesota to finish the game. The effort gave the Golden Gophers' bullpen 5.2 scoreless innings for the series.
The Golden Gophers knocked out TCU starter Sean Hoelscher quickly, as he gave up three hits and six runs in one third of an inning to suffer the loss. Taylor Cragin picked up the slack for the Horned Frogs by pitching 7.2 innings, giving up five hits, one run, one walk and four strikeouts.
Pettersen led Minnesota's offense, as he went 2-for-4 with two RBI, a run and a triple. Decker was also 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI. O'Shea was also 1-for-4 with a run and two RBI, while Nohelty reached base twice and was 1-for-3 with a run and an RBI. Kvasnicka also went 1-for-4 with a run, an RBI and two stellar defensive plays in right field.
TCU looked as if it was going to answer with a big inning of its own when Ben Carruthers doubled and moved to third on a single by Matt Carpenter to lead off the bottom of the first. Jason Coats lined a shot to right field, but Kvasnicka made a beautiful diving catch and almost doubled off Carpenter at first base. Carruthers came home to score on the sacrifice fly by Coats to make it 7-1. Carpenter moved up to second on a walk, and Matt Curry followed with a walk to make it first and second. Both runners moved up on a balk, but Buske struck out the final two batters to keep the Golden Gophers ahead by six runs.
The Horned Frogs added a single run in the bottom of the seventh to cut the Golden Gopher lead to 7-2. Hunt Woodruff got things started when he reached second on an error by the shortstop. Woodruff moved to third on a single by Bryan Holaday with no outs. Corey Steglich plated Woodruff with an RBI ground out to cut the lead to 7-2. Fern came in the game in relief and got a pair of fly outs to center field to get out of the inning.
TCU was led by Woodruff and Carruthers who each went 1-for-4 with a run, while Carpenter was 2-for-4. Steglich and Coats each had RBI for the Horned Frogs.
Minnesota will finish the series against TCU on Monday, Mar. 16 at 6:30 p.m. That game can be heard on gophersports.com.
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